


Close to the Cusp

by agent_orange



Category: Firefly
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Kissing, Mustaches, Pre-Canon, Weddings, Wooing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-25
Updated: 2009-12-25
Packaged: 2017-10-05 06:19:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agent_orange/pseuds/agent_orange
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>So you're born on the cusp, / oh, it's a run of bad luck.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Close to the Cusp

**Author's Note:**

> Written for fading_xhopex for whedon_santa.

**I.**

Wash buys her a few roses (Zoe isn't sure from where, because he couldn't afford to spend half his cut on roses from the Core, and roses don't grow anywhere else) and asks her to dinner (for the eighth time). And instead of saying 'no' for the eighth time, she surprises herself and says 'yes.' The word feels foreign in her mouth. "One condition, though."

He's still grinning like a fool. She could probably ask him to walk naked through Serenity and he'd do it with that same look on his face. "Yep?"

"Shave the mustache. It's creepy."

He does.

**II.**

Zoe isn't a morning person, and Wash doesn't seem to get that. She's up early every day (not before the captain—that would be impossible, because the sleep he does get comes in fits and starts and he's always up before the sun would be). Most days, she's used to it, but there are some when she just wants to crawl back into bed.

"Morning!" Wash chirps, chipper as ever. Zoe closes her eyes so as not to be blinded by the neon of Wash's shirt. "I made coffee." He hands her a mug; their fingers brush for a second when she takes it. The smell of it is still strong, so he must've made it just a few minutes ago. Zoe takes a sip, and it's surprisingly good—just the way she likes it, in fact: dark roast, with no sugar and no cream.

"Shouldn't you be flying?" she asks, raising her eyebrows and peering at him from over the rim of the mug.

"We've set a course; nothing coming up anytime soon, so I put her on autopilot." Wash pulls a chair away from the table, gesturing for her to sit. "So...last night was fun. When can we do it again? I'd really love it if we went to—"

"The captain's not paying you to sit and _chat_. We could be space trash if you don't get back up on the bridge."

It's not until he turns and leaves that Zoe murmurs a quiet, "Thanks." He doesn't respond, so he's definitely out of earshot. 

**III.**

The ship gets colder: they're damn close to broke, so Mal sets the heat lower and unpacks some scratchy wool blankets from a small crate. Standard-issue from the war (Zoe sees it right away, and the few scattered drops of blood on the corner of one don't go unnoticed by her, either). Kaylee boils water hot as it'll go, makes tea for everyone, and retreats back to the engine room—it's warmest there, and she's set up a little hammock to sleep in.

Wash starts wearing plain, long-sleeved shirts under his typical uniform of garishly-printed ones. Zoe just chokes back a laugh. _He'll probably ask to be buried in one,_ she thinks.

**IV.**

It's only during the darkest hours of the night that she thinks about him. She doesn't dream about him (she dreams about bombs going off and about losing the captain; once in a blue moon she dreams about babies that look like her), but when she wakes up from the nightmares and can't go back to sleep, Wash starts to creep into the corners of her mind. Zoe has Mal, and Kaylee, and even Jayne, but she's very much alone in the middle of empty space. They all are. And yeah, they're her family, but she hasn't heard from her _own_ family in years. And then there's Wash, looking doe-eyed and a little desperate, and he acts like she's the most precious thing in the 'verse a man could have.

And then, sometimes, she starts to think that it wouldn't be so terrible.

**V.**

She's not really sure how it happens. One moment she's yelling at him because the stunt he just pulled could've gotten them all killed, and the next she's grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and hauling him straight back against the wall.

Wash has stopped talking, which is good. It's a relief...until she realizes that Wash isn't talking anymore because his _tongue_ is in her _mouth_. Her "mmf-" is muffled by the dampwet heat of his mouth, his tongue soft and slick around her own.

They kiss until Zoe's lungs start to burn and she pulls away for air. When she catches her breath, she says, "Do that again and I kick your ass."

**VI. **

Wash avoids her for the next week (it's hard to tell the measure of a day out in the black) or so, and only speaks to her to ask her to pass the salt or to say that they'll be arriving later than planned. She seeks him out, going to the cockpit to see what made him so buggy all of a sudden.

"So. You're a kiss 'em and ignore 'em kind of man. I get it. Might need to drop you with the goods on Muir, though; get ourselves a new pilot."

Wash sputters, searching for words. "I—but...you told me not to...you know, kiss you again."

"You. _Idiot_. I told you not to pull another trick like that. Fireflies ain't built to fly like that and you know it." Even so, he looks shocked when she leans in, kisses him hot and hard. When she opens her eyes, his are still closed. "Seriously. The captain is very protective of his ship."

**VII.**

They get married on a Tuesday. It's chilly, and the sky is overcast a hazy gray; Zoe's arms are bare and she feels exposed in her dress, but Kaylee couldn't stop gushing over her while they were getting ready. In tradition, she has on something old (she touches her necklace and feels the knot at the base of her throat), something new (her red silk cheongsam is a wedding present from Inara), something borrowed (she wears a dab of Kaylee's lipstick), and something blue (her underwear).

Mal walks her down the aisle, officiates the ceremony and tries not to look too angry when Wash kisses her.

She goes to sleep as Zoe Washburne that night, and laughs a little—she actually married the goofy pilot.

And she couldn't be happier about it.


End file.
